1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of affixing heat transferable material to garments such as T-shirts and the like, and more particularly relates to a method for affixing an athlete's race time to a garment with a plurality of segmented numbers arranged in pairs, wherein the segmented numbers include segments that are separately removable from a paper or like backing member so that the remaining segments define a selected number, and wherein the plurality of numbers can be transferred together to the garment using heat transfer after the desired segments have been removed.
2. General Background
Many organized running events award each of the finishers with a souvenir tee-shirt or like garment bearing the name of the race. Such souvenir shirts are commonly associated with long distance runs such as 5 kilometer, 10 kilometer, half marathon and marathon. Garments are also awarded at triathon events that include running, bicycling, and swimming. Most of these garments display the name of the event, the distance involved, and at times the host city. Many such garments provide a logo that is multicolored.
Successful runners devote a great deal of time when training for long distance running events. Their hard work is hopefully rewarded with a very good time that would desirably be displayed somewhere on the garment such as on the front or on a sleeve. However, each runner's time is different for a given event. A race can attract between one thousand and thirty thousand runners or more. Heretofore, it has been impossible for a race director to place each runner's time on his or her souvenir garment. Therefore, there is a need for a simple yet customized method of transferring a racers time directly to the souvenir garment or shirt, after the event.